Telecommunications Regulations Authority says the largest number of attacks were recorded in January

A total of 615 cyber attacks against government, semi-government and private sector entities in the UAE were foiled in the first 10 months of 2017.

The Telecommunications Regulations Authority (TRA) said the largest number of attacks were recorded in January (136), 133 of which targeted government sites in addition to three anti-private sector attacks.

The attacks stymied by the TRA's Computer Emergency Readiness Team during Q1 reached 289, accounting for 47% of the total so far this year, state news agency WAM reported.

It added that February saw 114 attacks, 86 of which targeted private sites and 23 against government departments while a total of 39 attacks were registered in March, 21 of which against private sites and 18 against government ones.

The TRA said it has been launching awareness campaigns, including lectures, seminars and workshops to promote cyber safety, calling upon all departments to have back-up data bases independent of the internet.

Cyber attacks seek to deface and block government websites, including denial of service, hacking, deception, fraud, and identity and document theft, it added.